Emma Slevin sat across the dinner table from one of her idols and instantly knew where the next chapter of her flourishing gymnastics career was going to unfold.
“I just kept thinking, ‘oh my God, I’m sitting across from Kyla Ross’,” Slevin recalls of her visit to the University of Arkansas, where the Olympic gold medallist is now associate head coach.
Ross was someone Slevin had looked up to for years, and the opportunity to work with her was one of the reasons the Razorbacks won out when the Galway gymnast chose where to spend the second year of her US collegiate career.
“Arkansas had everything and more to offer,” says Slevin. “The coaching staff are experienced, a lot of them are Olympians and Olympic medallists and are really willing to take me down that path too.”
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The fact the Razorbacks wanted her was a reflection of her rapid rise in the US system. After completing a Health and Performance Science degree at UCD, she was considering further study in Dublin while trying to maintain her career at elite level.
Instead, at the 11th hour, she accepted an offer from Minnesota for the 2025-26 season.
The move transformed her gymnastics. Minnesota, ranked 13th nationally, defied the odds by reaching the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) “Four on the Floor” final, with Slevin contributing to a remarkable team campaign. Individually, she won the Big Ten uneven bars title in March.
That success brought offers from other colleges, but she eventually selected Arkansas, moving from the Big Ten to the more competitive Southeastern Conference (SEC). She will join up with Ross and her new team-mates after she leads the Ireland women’s team at the European Championships in Zagreb, which start on Thursday.
Slevin admits leaving Minnesota was difficult. “It was a great experience and obviously we did so well,” she says. “I had an amazing year. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
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The advantage now is that she knows what to expect. When she first arrived in the US, the scoring system and competition format were unfamiliar. By the end of the season she had learned how to manage the demands.
“Towards the end of last season, I really started to elevate and I think I can start a bit higher up at the start of the season and just keep that momentum going,” Slevin says.
Top Irish juniors will have taken note and the Galwegian’s experience may persuade others to follow suit as they seek improvement. For most, balancing studies or a career at home with their gymnastics ambitions will remain the best option.
Bláthnaid Higgins, Slevin’s Irish team-mate, has no plans to follow her across the Atlantic. The 22-year-old has completed her second year of physiotherapy at UCD and hopes to qualify in 2027.
“It’s really suiting Emma, it’s really suiting Jane [Heffernan], who went on her year abroad,” Higgins says. “They’ve loved it and it looks like a great experience, but it’s not something I think that I’d get into.”
Her Ad Astra scholarship has helped with college deadlines, exams and international competition, while a move to Phoenix in Dublin has simplified her training demands after she worked between the capital and the Renmore club back home in Galway.
“It’s been really helpful to have everything in one county,” she says. “That’s helped a lot with trying to balance everything. You can’t do gymnastics forever, so I’m really happy that I’ve been able to balance both and have something I can fall back on after I’m finished competing.”
Higgins is looking to deliver a clean competition this week, with the vault potentially offering her the strongest opportunity to contribute as Ireland targets qualification for the World Championships in October.
“We’re probably closer than ever before to achieving the goal and I think everyone believes that as well, which makes a huge difference,” she says.
“It would be amazing to qualify, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself because it’s the training we put in and how we prepare to compete on the day that counts.”
For Slevin, who won the All-Around national title on her return to Ireland in May, the competition represents an opportunity to showcase how much she has improved on the international stage.
“I always do better when I’m enjoying myself,” she says. “I definitely have the potential to rank higher than I ever have before. I just want to do my best work and I think if I do that, I’ll be ranked quite high.”
